Latest Deal Sends BP Yield Sky High

Not a bad change of heart. The initial price tag attached to BP's petrochemical unit when the oil company decided to float it was around $7 billion (&euro;5.77 billion). One year later, BP has sold the unit to a debt-funded trade buyer for $9 billion instead. Better still, it will return the net proceeds to shareholders. If BP had followed the route toward an initial public offering, it would have floated just 50%, and so would have been able to pay out less than half as much to investors. (See related article.)